


The Maiden's Apprentice

by AllisonIlluminated



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Atlas is the Worst, BAMF Cinder Fall, BAMF Ruby Rose, Cinder Fall Backstory, Cinder Fall Doesn't Understand Feelings, Cinder Fall is a Huntress, Cinder Fall is a Momma Bear, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dark Past, Dark Ruby Rose (RWBY), Drama, Everyone is Morally Questionable, Gen, Gore, Gray Cinder Fall, No Right Choices, Protective Cinder Fall, Psychological Thriller, Rhodes and Cinder's Adoptive Mother and Sisters are Still Dead, Ruby Rose is a good bean, Spoilers: Volume 8 (RWBY), Suspense, V8C6 Spoilers, but not a dark!fic we don't vibe with that, dark themes, i just love Cinder so much guys what a muse, maybe there will be shipping eventually but mostly just a psychological thriller, writing this for my own amusement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28200129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllisonIlluminated/pseuds/AllisonIlluminated
Summary: Framed for the killing of Roman Torchwick, kept out of Beacon and distrusted by her family, Ruby Rose wants nothing to do with mysterious huntress Cinder Fall. It's too late - she's caught her interest, and Cinder sees potential in her little Rose greater than Salem or Ozpin could imagine. A darker Ruby is dragged into a game of power, lies, and bloody vengeance. Huntress!Cinder AU
Relationships: Cinder Fall & Ruby Rose
Comments: 14
Kudos: 66





	1. The Set-Up

Allison Illuminated

12/20/20

**::**

THE MAIDEN'S APPRENTICE

_The Set-Up_

**::**

**[CW] Gore, Major Character Death, Referenced Abuse, Dark Themes. Spoilers for Volume Eight.**

**::**

"Hey!"

Vaulting over the side of the rooftop, her cloak streaming out behind her, Ruby Rose narrowed her eyes at Roman Torchwick, readying Crescent Rose, her pride and joy, an enormous combat scythe painted bright red. Torchwick stood with his back to her, his white coat catching the streetlight below, fists clenched. "Persistent…" the thief muttered.

Ruby fought her instinct to preen as Roman got his scroll out and jabbed at the screen. She was in serious huntress mode – she wouldn't take compliments from a villain!

Clearing her throat, Ruby drew herself up to her full (short) height. "Roman Torchwick!" she cried, trying to sound imposing. Torchwick turned and leveled Ruby an unimpressed look; she faltered, then drew herself up again. "Ahem! As a huntress-in-training of Vale, I am putting you under arrest! For robbery, and- and- um… property damage!"

Torchwick stared at Ruby for a long moment. He gave his scroll another angry glance and shoved it back in his pocket.

Ruby cocked her scythe.

"Look, kid…" Torchwick extended his arms in a friendly gesture, taking a few steps toward Ruby, waving his cane at the scene around him. "You can't be more than, what, twelve, right?"

"Fifteen!"

"Sure. And I know you're real excited to be going after big bad, fighting crime by moonlight, taking out Vale's _most notorious_ _thief_ , all that. And believe me, I get it. You want _glory_." Roman tossed his orange hair back. His eyes narrowed. "But give it up, Little Red. You're in over your head; you have _no idea_ what you're dealing with. So I'm going to give you the opportunity to leave now, before I have to hurt you and have a kid like you on my conscience, alright? Or worse. Trust me; you don't want to be here when my ride gets here."

Sirens sounded in the distance, earning a quick glance from both Ruby and Torchwick.

"No way," Ruby declared, lifting her chin. "You can't keep stealing dust and hurting people and expecting to get away with it! Even if I'm in over my head, I can't let you walk away when I could bring you to justice. Either you can surrender or we can… um…" She racked her mind for a good one-liner. What did the huntsmen say in the movies? "Or we can do this the hard way!"

_Yeah! Cool._

Roman snorted, glaring at the sky. "The hard way, she says," he muttered. "I'll show her the hard way."

"Hey!"

" _What_ , Red?"

"I said you're under arrest!"

"Oh, for the love of-" Losing his temper, Roman spun on Ruby and leveled his cane at her, taking a shot. Ruby rolled to the side, ducking another shot, and spun Crescent Rose to block a third. "You're unbearable!" Roman exclaimed, unleashing another barrage of shotgun fire at Ruby, who blocked it with ease. "My gods, are they teaching you to take down the Grimm by talking at them?"

Ducking another shot, Ruby shifted her scythe to sniper mode and fired back at Roman. Roman rolled out of the way, keeping a hand on his hat to keep it from blowing off. "You can do that?" she asked.

"I swear- If you're going to arrest me, come and do it properly," Torchwick growled. He rose to his feet and brushed dust off his white coat, looking at his scroll in fury again. "Kids these days…"

Ruby was on him in a heartbeat.

Spinning through the night air, Crescent unfolding, she slashed through the air where Torchwick had been, landing and sweeping, her vicious blade biting where his ankles had been moments earlier. She spun up to block his cane, kicking him in the chest, reversing her grip and coming around for a backside spin that caught Roman in the side and sent him flying, his aura flickering. Twisting in midair, Roman smirked and aimed his cane at Ruby's feet. There was a red dust crystal between Ruby's boots. Ruby's eyes widened in horror as Roman fired-

Something crashed into Ruby's side, knocking her out of the way.

She hit the side of the room, clutching to Crescent Rose, and scrambled for purchase. Standing in between her and Torchwick stood a woman wielding twin swords, her dark hair pulled back into a long braid, exuding an aura of danger and power. She wore a long red dress that clung to her frame like a supermodel, bound at the waist by a huntsman's belt, and an elaborate black and red choker. The woman looked back over her shoulder at Ruby, and Ruby caught her breath at the sheer coldness and intrigue in her amber eyes. She was breathtakingly gorgeous in the femme-fatale, I'm-going-to-murder-you sort of way, and Ruby was awed in her presence.

"You're a huntress…" she breathed, rising to her feet.

The huntress glared at Ruby. "Stay. Down."

Nodding meekly, Ruby aimed her scope at Torchwick, who was clambering to his feet, groaning, holding his side. And the huntress went to work.

There were no pleasantries. No words exchanged. Torchwick barely caught a glimpse of the huntress before she was on top of him, smashing her high heel into his face and sweeping his feet out from under him. He went down hard. Drawing his cane, Torchwick barely managed to get his weapon in between his chest and the huntress' dual swords as she brought them both down on top of him. Torchwick rolled out of the way, scrambling back, and the huntress stalked after him.

Ruby's eyes grew wide as the moon above them. _Who is she? She's fighting like she wants to kill him. But I thought she was a huntress?_

"Now, we can talk this out-" Torchwick said hastily, holding up his cane.

"I don't think so." Advancing, the huntress slashed her way through Torchwick's pitiful attempt to defend himself, ripping his cane out of his hands and leveling her sword at his chest. Ruby edged closer, watching the fight in morbid fascination. The look on the huntress' face sent a shiver of fear down her back. It was dark. Almost hungry. The woman's lips curled back into a sneer. "You lost that right when you started working for _her_ ," she said in a final tone, as though she were delivering judgment.

"Hey," Ruby called, approaching Torchwick and the huntress. "Shouldn't you be arresting him now?"

Torchwick bobbed his head, fear creeping into his expression. "Yes, listen to little Red over there. I surrender. Please, handcuff me, by _all_ means."

"Oh, so your little mute friend can break you out again?" The huntress made a show of considering it, then narrowed her eyes. "Too late."

Her sword stabbed through the last of Torchwick's aura, breaking it, and sank into his neck. Torchwick went rigid, gurgling, and Ruby froze. A scream caught in her throat as a shocked whimper. Planting her heel on Torchwick's chest, his ribs cracking beneath her foot, the huntress ripped her bloody sword out of his neck, giving the dead body beneath her foot a dispassionate look. Reaching into her belt, she pulled an old cloth out and ran it down the blade, wiping the blood away.

"Y-y-you killed him," Ruby stammered, staring at the huntress in horror. "He surrendered. You killed him!"

"Nothing he didn't deserve," the huntress said in a cool voice. She approached Ruby, sheathing her swords as she walked, and Ruby backed away, clutching Crescent Rose. "I suppose I should thank you. You stalled him long enough for me to finally catch the bastard, even if you nearly got yourself killed in the process. Not bad… for a child. You have potential."

Ruby didn't register the complement, still fixated on the pool of blood accumulating around Torchwick's cadaver, turning his white jacket red. "But- but-"

"What's your name?" the huntress demanded.

Stunned into compliance, Ruby answered. "R-Ruby. Ruby Rose."

"Rose. Rose. How do I know a Rose?" The huntress frowned to herself, utterly unconcerned by her recent murder, then shook it off. "It doesn't matter. I'll be watching you, Ruby Rose. Learn to strike first and talk later and you'll make a decent huntress. Now be a good girl and explain this to the police, won't you? I have somewhere else to be."

As the huntress made for the edge of the roof, Ruby shouted, "Wait!"

She turned, giving Ruby an annoyed look. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the dark; her dress was dust-infused, and golden threads glowed against the red fabric.

Ruby mustered her bravery once more, taking every shred of authority she possessed and forcing it into her voice. "You're not going anywhere," she said. "Show me your license."

"Why should I?" the huntress asked, lips twitching in amusement.

"Because I don't believe you're a huntress," Ruby declared, hefting Crescent Rose and taking a bold step forward. "A real huntress would have taken Torchwick in for questioning and let him be taken to justice. And if you're not a huntress then- then I'm putting you under arrest for murder."

For a second, Ruby was afraid the huntress would attack her. A brief flicker of something _dangerous- psychotic- not_ _right_ \- flickered through the huntress' eyes, but then she laughed under her breath and drew a scroll from her pouch, tossing it to Ruby. Ruby caught it and looked at the display: _Cinder Fall, 22, Atlesian Huntress_. A picture of the huntress – Cinder – smirked back at her. Clenching her fist around the scroll, Ruby grit her teeth and tossed it back.

The evaluative gleam was back in Cinder's eyes. "Naïve, aren't we?" she cooed, approaching Ruby. Ruby flinched back, but Cinder wasn't out to attack her – rather, she reached out and placed an almost affectionate hand on Ruby's head, ruffling her hair. Ruby froze, her mind short-circuiting. _What-_

The strange moment was interrupted by the hum of a Bullhead rising from the street below, thrumming engines sending waves of wind across the rooftop. Cinder let Ruby go and turned to the Bullhead, lips curling back into a snarl. "There you are," she hissed, drawing her swords, and took off at a run toward the still-open side.

"Wait!" Ruby cried, running after Cinder. In the shadow of the Bullhead's hold, a woman stepped into view, her eyes burning with a strange otherworldly fire. "Stop! Ms. Fall, what's going-"

"Don't get in my way!" Cinder shouted, leaping into the air toward the hold. The woman extended a hand, and Ruby did scream when an impossible burst of fire exploded into Cinder's side, blowing her back onto the roof. _What kind of semblance is that?_ Ruby leveled Crescent on the woman and started firing, ignoring Cinder's shout, only to widen her eyes as the woman blocked each shot with her palm, negating the rounds in midair. Suddenly, the ground beneath Ruby's feet glowed molten orange.

For the second time in the last five minutes, Cinder crashed into Ruby's side, knocking her out of the way of a _plume of fire_ that came _out of the roof-_

The Bullhead pulled away from the roof, leaving Ruby and Cinder lying on the ground in its wake. Cinder pushed herself into a sitting position, her perfect hair disheveled, and cursed, snarling in rage. Before Ruby, who was dazed and overwhelmed, could react, Cinder had seized Crescent Rose and unleashed it into scythe form, giving Ruby a dark look.

"You," she snarled, glaring daggers into Ruby, who shrank back in fear. "You have _no idea_ how long I have been tracking her. I _had_ her. She was _mine_ , and you- You! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I- I-"

Laughing, Cinder slung Ruby's scythe over her shoulder, looking rather like an angel of death, and gave her a sickly smile. "I was going to make it easy on you," she hissed. "I was going to let you pin Torchwick on me and take the heat from the higher-ups. But now I'm not feeling so generous."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked as Cinder stalked toward the corpse. "What are you doing with my-"

In one clean slice, Cinder severed Roman's head from his body with Crescent Rose. The head rolled away; the blade was slicked with his blood. Smirking in violent, furious satisfaction, Cinder ground the blade around into the pool of blood until it was properly soaked, and tossed it back to Ruby. Her baby, her pride and joy, now covered in blood, clattered to the rooftop.

Ruby stared at her blade in horror. Nausea churned in her stomach.

The sirens came closer, but Cinder was at the rooftop's edge, looking back at Ruby. "The world isn't black and white, Rose," she said, meeting Ruby's eyes – and Ruby couldn't look away. "I think you'll find that if you never break the rules as a huntress, you'll do more harm than good. Don't sit on your little high horse and think that you don't have my instincts, waiting to be honed – I saw you take a slice at Torchwick's neck. Maybe explaining why _you_ killed him will teach you a lesson. After all, the world doesn't take too kindly to huntresses who kill – no matter how necessary we are."

Ruby opened her mouth. Closed it. The memory of Cinder's too-warm hand resting on her head lingered. She had nothing she could say, so she narrowed her eyes at Cinder, some sort of resolve coming over her. She didn't know when or how, but she wouldn't let this go unanswered.

Cinder threw back her head and laughed. Her lips curled back in dark satisfaction. "That's the spirit," she said. Then she jumped off the rooftop and vanished into the night.

Ruby stared off into the distance for a minute. Then she walked over and picked up Crescent Rose, staring at her bloody weapon in equal measure.

Some resolve clicked into place in her chest.

She didn't turn, didn't react when a second huntress jumped onto the roof and gasped at the scene before her. "What on earth?" the woman breathed. "Is that _Roman Torchwick?_ What happened here?"

Ruby turned, giving the huntress a dull look. She had platinum blond hair and glasses, and wore a purple cape over her professor's outfit. She could have recognized Glynda Goodwitch anywhere – how could she not know the deputy headmistress of Beacon? But she was so preoccupied with what had just happened that she forgot to fangirl over one of her idols. "Ruby Rose, huntress-in-training," she said, Crescent Rose sagging in her grasp. "Torchwick was robbing Dust Before Dawn, and he tried to escape. When I tried to arrest him, he resisted. He had five goons with him too; they should be down in the street somewhere."

Glynda nodded sharply, gulping at the sight of her scythe. Her apprehension turned to contained anger. "Did you do this?" she said sharply.

Ruby closed her eyes. She was going to rat out Cinder Fall, the huntress who had saved her life twice, the huntress who had been on a mission that she had ruined. The huntress who had murdered her defenseless target in cold blood. She had to tell Glynda about Cinder; she needed to tell Glynda about Cinder. Cinder deserved to be brought to justice for- But Torchwick was one of the worst criminals in the city. Why was she considering not telling Glynda? But there was something in the way Cinder Fall had looked at Ruby, like she had _known_ Ruby could be something, like she had known Ruby could be great-

And hadn't it been her fault that the Bullhead had gotten away?

From the way Cinder had been talking, the real target hadn't been Roman – it had been the lady with the scary fire powers. And if Cinder was tracking that lady, who was working with Torchwick, one of the scariest people Ruby had ever seen, someone who had real malicious intent…

Ruby opened her eyes. Her answer slipped from her lips before she had a chance to think better of it.

"Yes."

Glynda's expression became severe and very, very scary. "Then I'm going to need you to come with me."


	2. The Comedown

Allison Illuminated

12/21/20

**::**

THE MAIDEN'S APPRENTICE

_The Comedown_

**::**

_**Two Months Later…** _

Crimson petals drifted down to the spring grass, scattering and dissolving on the forest floor.

Ruby shot through the forest, her semblance whirling around her, a pack of Beowulves in hot pursuit behind her. She dodged two oak trees and miraculously passed through a third, readying Crescent Rose, headed toward one of her favored clearings for killing Grimm. She burst into the clearing and re-materialized with her feet against a large rock, springboarding back towards the oncoming pack at top velocity. Firing Crescent, she spun into the fray.

Smoke pooled around her. She ducked claws. Slashing, tearing, her footwork firm and aggressive, she tore through the smaller Grimm and sliced the Alpha in half, using their dissolving smoke to conceal herself. She shot off with her semblance again, reappearing up a tree, and corkscrewed back to earth to take out the last three Beowulves with dismissive ease.

Rising to her feet, Ruby sheathed her weapon and stared dispassionately at the place where the pack of Grimm had been. _They're all dead,_ she thought, dissatisfied, and looked away.

It hadn't done her any good. She still itched to fight; her anger and resentment, unabated, still pooled in her gut.

Ruby shot the clearing one last look and wandered off to find more Grimm to kill.

Patch was tamed. Domesticated. Ruby had heard stories from Yang about the hunts the real huntresses-in-training got to go on – exercises in the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall, where there were real Grimm that posed real threats to eliminate. She was sick of fighting small fry in the woods around Signal, where the teachers took care of any real danger before it left the shadows it had crawled up from. Ruby was ready to join the big leagues – she was certainly miles ahead of anyone else at Signal, even in the year above her – and yet here she was, on probation, sitting on her heels stagnating while Yang got to go off and have adventures at Beacon.

She didn't know what she had expected when she took credit in Roman's death instead of Cinder. On some level, maybe, Ruby had thought that nobody would believe her, and Cinder would be found out anyway. That wasn't the case. Ruby had been carted off by Goodwitch to a lengthy interrogation, where Goodwitch had invited Professor Ozpin, _the_ Ozpin, in to question her about her 'accident.' Ruby had spun a high tale about how she hadn't meant to decapitate Vale's most wanted thief, stuttering and mumbling her way through the interview, and the adults had bought it on face value. It was, in their eyes, utterly believable that a pure fifteen-year-old had killed a criminal in the goriest way possible.

That hurt, but it also committed Ruby to the lie. Ruby still didn't understand _why_ she was lying for Cinder Fall, but the lack of truth-searching rocked the core of her conviction. Was it so easy to hide things from adults? Why hadn't Ozpin seen through her deception? Why hadn't her family?

Ruby had spent a few terrifying days stuck in her house while the official 'investigation' took place, convinced that she would be kicked out of Signal and arrested. Yang left for Beacon with only a wary hug and a muttered goodbye; Taiyang watched her out of the corner of his eye when he thought she wasn't looking, alternating between tired disapproval and self-deprecation. Ruby caught a snatch of conversation between her dad and Uncle Qrow one night from the kitchen; the clink of brandy glasses, raised voices, and an indictment: _"...always worried about Yang, but what if- …just like Raven."_

Ruby hadn't slept that night. Of all the comparisons her father could have made, none could have hurt more than comparing Ruby to Yang's deadbeat mom. She wanted to be a huntress, a hero; she wanted to save people like Summer, not- not _abandon_ them like Raven.

One day, Qrow came into her room and kicked his feet up on Yang's empty bed, taking a long swig from his flask. He was drinking more, these days.

"So," he said, "Why'd you do it, kid?"

Ruby sat in her own bed, her legs beneath the covers, fists bunched up in the comforter. She hadn't bothered getting out of bed yet. "I-"

Her gaze dropped. Here was the one person who might _believe_ her; or, even better, continue the lie with her. He was her _Uncle Qrow_. She trusted Qrow, more than she trusted anyone. Ruby clutched the covers tighter, fighting not to cry. She couldn't do it. She couldn't abandon her lie, not while she was in this deep – but she also couldn't lie to her uncle. So she told the truth.

"I thought I knew what it meant to be a huntress," Ruby murmured, unable to meet Qrow's eyes. "But now I think I didn't know anything at all. I thought I knew what was right and what was wrong; I thought the system worked, that the system was _good_. But I'm not so sure anymore. Huntsmen are supposed to stand for what's _right_ ; they're supposed to fight for justice and protect those who can't fight for themselves. But maybe I don't know what justice is. What if what's right isn't the same as what we're told to do."

"So now killing is justice?" Qrow asked harshly. "Where did they teach you that at Signal?"

"Maybe it's not about what's taught!" Ruby burst out, looking at Qrow. His gaze was intense; she shrank back. "I… I've been doing research. About Torchwick. Did you know that he broke out of jail thirteen times? And that his robberies and plots are responsible for the deaths of almost a hundred people? He- he was a criminal, a murderer, and putting him behind bars _wasn't_ stopping him. And-" Ruby barely knew the words coming out of her mouth, but now she was getting on a role, a very real passion creeping into her tone. "And I think Torchwick wasn't working alone – I think he had gotten involved in something bigger, something dangerous, and he was going to get a lot of people hurt! You didn't fight the woman he was with, the woman who could make fire – she was _terrifying,_ and she would have killed me without a second thought. If he was working with-"

Something knowing flashed in Qrow's eyes. "We know her," he growled, startling Ruby. "We're dealing with her."

"You do?" Ruby sat up straight, eyes wide, intent on her uncle. "Who is she? How could she _do_ those things? I've never seen a semblance like that, Uncle Qrow-"

"And we're dealing with her!" Qrow exclaimed. Ruby flinched back, and Qrow groaned, massaging his temples. "Damn it, Ruby. You're a junior academy student! You're supposed to be learning math and history, not going after top ranked criminals and _killing_ them. There's a _reason_ we keep kids out of the field; it's cause when they get in over their heads they get _ideas_ about what they're supposed to do and they break the rules. Now you're going to have a death on your conscience for the rest of your life and it's going to follow you into your professional career, and I _promise_ you that employers _really_ care if you have a death on your record. They don't hire killers for jobs with human or faunus targets, Rubes."

"But what if the rules are wrong?" Ruby cried, upset and afraid and forced on the defensive.

"You're fifteen!" Qrow roared, rushing to his feet, flinging his flask against the wall. Ruby squeaked and recoiled in fear. "You don't get to decide that! You don't get to decide who lives and who dies!"

Ruby stared at her uncle, petrified. The silence rang volumes through the room. In spite of herself, tears leaked from her eyes, and she began to tremble, clutching to the covers like a lifeline. Qrow's eyes widened as he realized what the scene looked like, whiskey slowly pooling out from the discarded flask onto her carpet, and his hands sagged to his side. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fists, and turned his head to the side.

"Shit," he whispered, clenching his jaw. "I- I'm sorry, kid. I'll- I- I'll just go."

 _No!_ Ruby wanted to scream. _Don't go! I'm innocent, Uncle Qrow, why aren't you_ listening _to me? Why can't you see that?_ But she couldn't. A strangled sob escaped her lips. She reached out a hand toward Qrow as he bent down and gathered up his flask, but he slipped out of the room without a second glance. Her bedroom, which usually smelled like rose petals, stank of whiskey.

She waited ten days for a punishment that never came.

When nobody saved her from her lie, Ruby expected to be expelled from Signal, or worse. She knew the rules. It was legal for a huntsman to kill in the line of duty, especially against a violent and aggressive opponent, but those privileges were conferred by a huntsman's license, which Ruby didn't have. Vigilante justice was strongly frowned upon; extra-judicial killings, even by a huntress-in-training, could be a ticket for a prison sentence. Ruby knew Taiyang and Qrow would never let her go to jail, but she knew in equal measure that she had put her position at school, and her future as a huntress, in jeopardy. But there were no consequences. One day she was stuck at home, the next day she was sitting in class like nothing had happened. The school kept the matter hush-hush and placed her on probation, but that was it. Ruby had been placed on probation before for _breaking equipment in the lab room_. How were those equivalent? Worse, a representative from the Kingdom government came in and quietly congratulated her for 'dispatching of the Torchwick problem.' "You'll understand that we can't thank you publicly," the slimy man had told her. "But you've done this city a great service. We look forward to seeing where your career goes someday, Miss Rose." She had gotten off, effectively, with a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist.

The whole affair, which had left a bad taste in Ruby's mouth from the beginning, slowly warped and curdled in her mind. A deep-seated disgust toward everyone and everything involved with the investigation grew within her; her faith in authority and the huntsmen who bannered it withered with every day her words were taken at face value and the investigation failed to turn anything up. How easy would it have been for Torchwick to get away? Or, worse, how easy would it have been for a hunstman with malicious intent to kill somebody innocent and get away with it? Did nobody care about the truth? Why hadn't they plastered Fire Lady's description on every wanted board in the city?

Paradoxically, Ruby began to be _glad_ that she had been forced to take the fall for Cinder; she had faced no real consequences, and if her taking the blame meant that Cinder was able to continue hunting Fire Lady rather than face consequences, then it was _worth_ it. Because Ruby realized that she cared about doing the right thing, and she knew instinctively that Cinder did too. How could Cinder not, when she had saved Ruby's life without a second thought? Cinder, it seemed to Ruby, was the only one who had the right of it in the whole situation. Because Cinder was the only one who had taken _action_ other than her.

She had trouble thinking straight under the amount of stress she was feeling. Her mind screamed that something in her logic was wrong, twisted, but Ruby couldn't figure out what. But this, _this_ , she had conviction on.

Maybe Roman Torchwick hadn't deserved to die. But if his death saved untold innocent lives, then maybe it was worth it.

So she isolated herself from her friends at Signal and she avoided the guilt in Qrow's eyes and her father's fear. She ignored her teachers when they tried to 'steer her in the right direction' and spaced out through her mandated 'huntsmen ethics' lesson and continued to coast by on her skill in school, staying at the top of her class without breaking a sweat. And Ruby trained, and trained hard, in the woods behind the school, carving her way through any Grimm unlucky enough to cross her path.

"My, my, taking our anger out on the Grimm, are we?" a familiar voice purred behind Ruby.

Ruby whirled around. Cinder lounged atop the big rock in the center of the clearing behind her, idly turning a dagger over palm to hilt in her hand, looking down at Ruby with an amused expression on her face. She was dressed more casually than when Ruby had last seen her, wearing a utilitarian huntsman's jacket over of a pair of designer combat slacks and a black bodysuit. Once Ruby registered her presence, all of her pent-up emotion came rushing out directed at the smug huntress before her. "You!"

"Yes, me." Cinder smirked. "Hello, little rose. I told you I'd be watching you."

"You set me up!" Ruby accused, pointed Crescent Rose at Cinder. "How could you _do_ that to his body after you killed him? You- you're horrible! I should turn you in!"

"And yet you haven't. Imagine my surprise when I went home and I didn't have huntsmen knocking on my door," Cinder said, pushing herself into a sitting position. She leaned forward, examining Ruby like prey. "You didn't tell them. I expected you to blab your little heart out to the authorities at the first chance you got. I even gave you my name, and you did nothing. I told you to lie and you _ran_ with it, so I can't help but be curious as to what kind of resolve you've got hiding under your little innocent facade. But it's too late now. They wouldn't believe you even if you told them the truth."

"You don't know that," Ruby hissed.

Cinder inspected her dagger, aloof. "Oh, I do, Ruby Rose. Believe me. I've worked with your uncle before, Qrow Branwen, no? Imagine my surprise when I found _that_ fascinating little tidbit about you, although I should have guessed from the scythe. No. You're in too deep. But _I_ know the truth now about you. You-" She pointed the dagger at Ruby. "-have my attention."

"I don't want your attention!" Ruby shouted back. "I played your game, alright? Leave me alone!"

"Oh?" Cinder cocked her head at Ruby. "But you're so interesting. What happens if I say no?"

Narrowing her eyes, Ruby slipped back into a ready stance, cocking Crescent Rose. She met Cinder's amber eyes. "Then I'll make you."

Ruby's opening blow was easily batted away by Cinder, who drew one of her swords, not bothering to move or get off the rock. Ruby landed on her feet and glared at Cinder, who was checking her nails. "Cute," Cinder drawled, giving Ruby a sidelong glance. "Is that all you've got?"

Ruby grit her teeth and went on the offensive.

She used her semblance to get behind Cinder on the rock and sliced into her, forcing Cinder to block with both her swords. Cinder gracefully flipped off the rock, and Ruby followed, intent on breaking through her defenses. She kept Crescent at a deadly speed, constantly in motion, flowing through her swings – Cinder deflected every blow with lazy ease, never breaking eye contact with Ruby, only fueling Ruby's annoyance. Ruby drew back for an overpowered blow and Cinder caught her scythe between her blades, leaning in. Ruby stared back in defiant anger.

"You want to know what I think?" Cinder asked as Ruby grunted, trying to wrench Crescent Rose free of her swords. "I think they're wasting your potential. You're all alone, isolated from your little friends, and now that they know what you're capable of they don't _trust_ you to do the right thing anymore." Ruby's feelings must have shown on her face, because Cinder's satisfaction deepened. "You know it, don't you? You're ready to take on more responsibility, take on the world, and yet you're stuck at a junior academy where you're treated like a _child_. Trust me. I know the feeling. How it _burns_ when you know you have the skill and drive to help people but you're not allowed to…"

"Shut up!" Finally ripping Crescent Rose free, Ruby smashed the blunt end of the blade into Cinder's side, sending Cinder flying across the clearing with a grunt. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! I didn't ask for this!"

"No," Cinder agreed in a pleasant tone, rising to her feet like Ruby hadn't just bludgeoned her. "You _chose_ this. And that's a hundred times more dangerous."

Growling, Ruby sprinted toward Cinder again, Crescent primed behind her, but this time Cinder fought back. She tried to get back in her rhythm but found herself on the defensive, losing ground against Cinder's vicious dual wielding. Cinder had an unrelenting style, broad strokes with few openings, moving in unpredictable and deadly ways that made her hard to counter; her swords were strong enough to counter Crescent and when she got in close, it was all Ruby could do not to get stabbed.

This time it was Ruby who brought them to a lock, shifting Crescent to sniper mode to catch Cinder's dual blades inches above her head. A slight manic glint to her eyes, some sort of battle lust, Cinder pressed down, and Ruby had to slide her foot back to hold the block.

"I think you need me," Cinder said, a satisfied smirk crossing her face. "Nobody's going to give you the extra training you need to keep getting better now that they think you'll use it to play the perfect vigilante. Not your teachers, not your classmates, and _certainly_ not your uncle. And if you don't get trained now, you'll stagnate. You know that, don't you? The only one who's willing to train you is _me_."

Ruby ducked out of the lock and backpedaled, firing a couple shots at Cinder. One even hit her aura, but Cinder advanced on her, holding her swords out at her sides. Ruby could imagine they were covered in blood.

"Why should I believe you?" she cried.

"Oh, Rose," Cinder sighed. One moment she was in front of Ruby; before Ruby could react, she was behind Ruby, one arm holding Ruby in place, the other holding cold steel to her throat. Ruby gasped as Cinder kissed her sword to her aura, sending a little ripple of red up and down her neck. She whimpered, squirming, but Cinder's grip was iron. Cinder whispered into her ear, "I'm the only one who'll ever tell you the truth."

"Let me go," Ruby gasped, struggling. Crescent Rose wasn't positioned in a way that could help her; she couldn't reach her dust crystals.

"Will you keep attacking me, little rose?" Cinder asked, her breath hot on Ruby's ear.

An all-consuming fear enveloped Ruby's mind; twisting in Cinder's grasp, reaching instinctively into her aura, Ruby _pulled. "LET ME GO!"_ she screamed, and then suddenly she was on the other side of the clearing, staring at a shocked Cinder, crouching in the dirt like a wounded animal, feral, with Crescent Rose unfurled and ready to strike. Ruby breathed hard, trying to logically reassert how she had crossed the clearing in a blink, watching Cinder for the first sign of an attack.

"Every time I think I have you pinned down," Cinder whispered, a breathless smile crossing her face. "You manage to surprise me, Ruby Rose. How on _Remnant_ did you just use your semblance through my sword?"

"Why would I want to learn from you?" Ruby spat, her chest heaving, as she pressed her fingertips into the dirt, ready to strike. "All you could teach me is how to be like _you_."

Hurt blossomed across Cinder's face; she flinched, taking a step back, and seemed to realize that she'd just been holding her sword to a fifteen-year-old's throat. Her weapons fell to her side. Pursing her lips, Cinder looked away for a moment. "I guess that's what this looks like, isn't it?" she whispered to herself.

Ruby held her ready position for a long moment until it became apparent that Cinder didn't intend to attack her. She slowly rose back to her feet, sheathing Crescent Rose and reclipping her weapon to her belt.

"I don't want to teach you to be like me," Cinder said, her voice carrying across the clearing. She looked back at Ruby, and there was something distant and sad in her eyes. "I think you already are. Like me. And I want you to be better than I am – you _could_ be better than I am." Cinder's gaze darkened. "Maybe I'm stupid for getting invested in a kid. But I put you in this situation to see what you'd do-"

"You did it out of spite," Ruby snapped.

"And because I was angry," Cinder agreed easily. "And you exceeded my every expectation. I could be what nobody else will for you – if you let me. I want to make you _great_."

There was a feeling that Ruby was familiar with, one that she thought everyone must feel at the turning points in their life. The moment when the wind starts to blow in the other direction and the world seemed to still to one point, one decision, held in the intensity of another's gaze. It felt… momentous. The decision Cinder was asking her to make.

"What's in it for you?" Ruby asked softly, taking a hesitant step forward. She was still afraid, yes, but it seemed distant. Weapons were dangerous too, but only if you held them the wrong way. Wielded properly… There was hope in Cinder's eyes, wasn't there? Cinder had hope for what? Her? "You wouldn't do this out of the kindness of your heart. I'm naïve but I'm not that naïve."

Cinder came closer, moving with an elegance Ruby could never hope to possess. Ruby wasn't sure why she let Cinder touch her again, so soon after she'd held her at swordpoint. Cinder placed a hand on her cheek and tilted her head up to meet her eyes. "You… have silver eyes," Cinder murmured.

Her touch made Ruby shiver in fear once more. But she was brave – unabashed, she held Cinder's gaze, knowing the other woman could take her life as soon as she could give her the world.

"What do you want from me?" Ruby whispered.

"I will teach you everything and anything you could ever wish to know. You'll follow my instructions, and in turn, I will make you strong. And in return…" Cinder tilted her head, her intense eyes boring into Ruby's soul. "The woman in the Bullhead possesses a power greater than you could know. It is a power older than you or I, older than the world itself. That power was rightfully mine and it was stolen from me, and I _will not stop_ hunting her until I have it back. I will teach you everything I know. And in return, you will help me kill that woman."

Ruby caught her breath. A real teacher, someone who wouldn't bar her from her dream, who would give her the strength she needed to be a great huntress, a hero like her mother, in exchange for hunting the villain who had haunted her dreams at night? She got learn combat _and_ hunt evil?

It sounded like a win-win. But nothing was ever so simple, signing a deal with the devil.

But Ruby couldn't – wouldn't – back down now.

"Deal," she said, her high voice quavering. "I'll do it."

A long, slow smirk curled across Cinder's face. And even as a surge of anticipation and something else, something she couldn't identify, set her skin alight, Ruby couldn't help but feel that she had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

"Good," Cinder said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N] Oh, she might be fighting on the 'good' side, but Cinder is still every bit the person she is on the show: the violent, amoral, manipulative, cunning, psychopathic, seductive woman who wants (or wanted) to do the right thing and goes about it in the worst way possible. Ruby has no idea what she's gotten herself into. And, to be fair, neither does Cinder.
> 
> Yes, there's an OC in Cinder's role. Don't worry. Trust me. We'll get there. As always with fanfiction, one of my motivations for writing is getting deeper at the source material, and I intend whole-heartedly to do so.
> 
> Oh, yeah, and Cinder knows things. Like the maidens. And Qrow. She wants power more than anything – there is no universe where Cinder Fall does not get herself entangled in the heart of the conflict.
> 
> So much of Ruby's strength and goodness comes from other people in the show. Isolate her, and her character changes. And she's always looking for new people she can rely on.
> 
> Cheers to the early adopters! Day one baby! Thanks to YuukiAsuna-Chan, Aceina, Zifryt, Crimson_Grave, and MLLIE for reviewing.
> 
> Don't forget to tell me what you think! Remember to follow, favorite, and leave a review.
> 
> Thrillers are so much fun to write. I'm grinning like an idiot in my writerly corner, guys. Thanks for reading.
> 
> Cheers, Allie

**Author's Note:**

> [A/N] As a reward for finishing my finials, I let my brain go plot bunny spelunking and this is what I came up with. If you've ever read my fics before, you know how much I adore Cinder and a darker Ruby. So when we finally got Cinder's backstory and it was fabulous, how could I not write a huntress!Cinder fic?
> 
> So here's the AU – Cinder's abusers were just a little bit better to her, Rhodes was there for her just enough for her to cling to her sanity and stumble into adulthood, and Cinder got what she was promised: a way out. But she's still Cinder – dark, power-hungry, and not quite right in the head. Things diverge from there, and of course Ruby gets tangled up in Cinder's mess.
> 
> I wanted to read this but ofc a week after the episode came out nobody's written the AU the way I want it yet. So, in the words of Hazel, "If you want something done right, do it yourself."
> 
> If you've read re:Bound, yeah I know this is a super similar set-up with the first Torchwick scene. It won't be anything like re:Bound whatsoever, don't worry. What can I say? I find killing off Torchwick in scene one a compelling premise.
> 
> Anyhoo anyone following me knows my updates have been rather sporadic this year. For those who don't follow me and my writing, that's cause I'm writing an original novel, which is currently sitting at some 326k words (I know, don't me). I'll write this one whenever I feel like it, honestly – don't expect any sort of schedule. Fanfiction for me these days is more of a nice way to relax than anything. Any love you give the story just sweetens the deal.
> 
> I don't have any interest in following canon. I'm also bored of the first three volumes. Expect this fic to move pretty quickly past the Beacon era.
> 
> I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. Don't forget to drop a review :)
> 
> Cheers, Allie


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